Ice and salt-brine circulating unit for refrigerators



Aug. 10, 1937. G. E. FRIEDRICH 2,089,886

ICE AND SALT-BRINE. CIRCULATING UNIT FOR REFRIGERATORS Filed Jan. 8, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet l wmf/MMM v y l www Aug. 10, 1937. G. E. FRIEDRICH ICE AND SALT-BRIN CIRCULATING UNIT FOR REFRIGERATORS Filed Jan. 8, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Mmmm',

Patented Aug. 1G, 1937 NETE@ STATES ICE AND SALT-BRNE CERCULATING UNET FOR REFRIGERATORS George E. Friedrich, San Antonio, Tex., assigner to Ed. Friedrich, Inc.,

poration of Texas San Antonio, Tex., a cor- Application January 8, 1936, Serial No. 58,181

7 Claims.

The invention relates to certain new and useful improvements for refrigerators of the general type exemplified by Letters Patent No. 1,893,769, issued January 10, 1933, and Nos. 2,004,691 and 2,004,692, issued June l1 1935 which use a cooling coil or evaporator for chilling the air within the cabinet. These refrigerators usually have been operated by electrically driven compressor systems., suc-h as the well known Frigidaire system.

My present invention has for its object to provide a refrigerant circulating unit which ernpioys ice and salt-brine and is designed so that it may be set against the refrigerator cabinet as a distinct unit and coupled up with the cooling coil or evaporator of the refrigerator to circulate cold brine through the same by forced circulation under thermost'atic control.

Further, it is the object of the invention to provide an icing unit to take the place of the refrigerating machines now commonly employed, especially in localities where ice and salt-brine may be used economically.

Generically the invention consists in providing a. box containing a suitably insulated tank ior the reception of ice and salt-brine, and also containing an electrically driven motor and brine circulating pump and brine circulating pipes adapted for connection with the usual refrigerating coil of the refrigerator, provisions being mad-e to insure an eifeotive circulation of the brine, and provisions also being made for draining off excess brine created by the melting of the ice.

Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and in part be pointed out hereinafter.

To the attainment of the aforesaid objects and ends, the invention still further resides in the nov-el details of construction, combination and arrangement of parts, all of which will be rst fully described in the following detailed description, lthen be particularly pointed out in the appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section of the invention associated with a refrigerator of the kind described in my patents aforesaid, so much of the interior of the structure of the reirigerator being shown as may be necessary to the understanding of the present invention, and being indicated in dotted lines.

Figure 2 is a horizontal section on the line 2 2 of Figure l.

Figure 3 is a Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a detail section on line ure 2.

In the drawings, in which like numerals indicate like parts in all the figures, I represents the refrigerator in which is disposed the usual redetail section on the line 3-3 of 4--4 of Figfrigerating coil 32; E represents the return air duct (see Patent No. 2,004,692); 25 indicates the blower or air circulator and 2t the motor for driving the blower. These parts, i. e. i, 32, 25 and 2t, are numbered the sam-e as in Patent No. 2,004,692, :for convenience of reference.

The present invention comprises a casing or boi: 2 having a vertical cross partition 3 to divide the box into two chambers, one of which is provided with a brine tank li set in a suitable insulating lining 5, and there is provided a lid or top door 6, also lined at i and insulated at E.

The other chamber or compartment of the box 2 serves as a chamber for the motor l0 and brine circulating pump 9. The motor has its circuit wires ii connected to a thermostatically controlled switch i2 which may be mounted on the wall of the refrigerator against which the casing 2 is set, the wall of the refrigerator serving, in the embodiment of the invention illustrated, as the closure for the motor-pump chamber.

I3 is a thermostatic bulb which is preferably located in the return air duct 45 and connected in the usual manner with the switch i2 to control the operation thereof.

From the pump 9 a return line pipe ifi leads to the brine tank li and preferably delivers into the overiiow pipe trap i5, latter being provided with overflow receiving apertures i6. The overflow pipe trap l5 connnunicates with the overflow pipe 33 by which the overow brine is conducted away from the apparatus.

i'i designates the ilocr of the casing which is also insulated at i8 and provided with bottom lining 30. ydesignates what I term the inlet line for conveying cold brine from the tank to the inlet end 2i of the cooling coil 32 of the refrigerator. The entrant end of the inlet line within 4the brine tank is shielded at i0, the shield being perforated at adjacent the entrant end of the pipe 20, which entrant end is provided with a suitable strainer 2t of relatively tine mesh.

The outlet end 22 of the refrigerating coil 32 is connected with the return line 23 to the pump S.

The motor I0 and pump 0 are mounted on a base 2S that is, in turn, supported on the floor 2'! by an interposed insulation 253 of cork to deaden the sound of the motor and pump.

3i is a gasket carried by the lid i to prevent r entrance of heated air into the rine tank.

The overflow pipe 33 where it passes through the brine is suitably insulated as at in order netto conduct heat into the cold brine within the tank.

In practice the unit constituting the present invention is made in a suitable size to function properly with a counter such as that described in Patent No. 2,004,692; for example, the present unit has a capacity of about ve hundred pounds of cracked ice and about eight to ten per cent f coarse ice-cream salt is used. The brine water W is maintained at a depth of about fifteen inches. Assume the tank to be supplied with ice and water, as indicated at S in Fig. l, and connected up with the refrigerator. When the pump is in operation it will cause cold brine to be drawn from the tank through the coils 32 and the warm brine returned to the tank through the return lines. The returned brine is deposited in the tank at a place remote from that where the cold brine is taken in. Preferably the warm brine is deposited adjacent the waste pipe, and more preferably it is deposited into the overiiow trap i 5 so that as much as possible of the returned warm brine is carried oi by the waste pipe and as little as possible of the cold brine overflows through the waste pipe.

The thermostatic bulb, when inserted in the return air duct of the refrigerator, so regulates the action of the motor that the brine pump runs for about fifteen minutes, which cools the refrigerator cabinet suiiiciently to throw the switch, and then the brine pump stands idle from about forty-iive minutes to an hour.

Of course, modiiications in the timing of the operation, as Well as modifications in the arrangement of parts, may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

i. A brine cooling and circulating unit for refrigerating cabinets having cooling coils; said unit comprising a case, said case having two chambers one of which is provided with a heat insulated tank to receive ice and salt-brine, a brine circulating pump and a motor for driving the same located in the other of said chambers, a pipe for conducting cold brine from said tank to the cooling coil of the refrigerator, a pipe from said cooling coil of the refrigerator to said pump, a return flow pipe from said pump to said tank, and means to control the operation of said motor according to the temperature within the refrigerator. l

2. A brine cooling and circulating unit for refrigerating'cabinets having cooling coils; said unit comprising a case, said case having two chambers one of which is provided with a heat insulated tank to receive ice and salt-brine, a

brine circulating pump and a motor for driving the same located in the other of said chambers,'

a pipe for conducting cold brine from said tank to the cooling coil of the refrigerator, a pipe from said cooling coil of the refrigerator to said pump, a return flow pipe from said pump to said tank, means to control the operation of said motor according to the temperature within the refrigerator, and a shield for said cold brine conducting pip-e within said tank, said shield having means to pass cool brine only to the inlet end of said cold brine conducting pipe.

3. A brine cooling and circulating unit for refrigerating cabinets having cooling coils; said unit comprising a case, said case having two chambers one of which is provided with'a heat insulated tank to receive ice and salt-brine, a brine circulating pump and a motor for driving the same located in the other of said chambers, a pipe for conducting cold brine from said tank to the cooling coil of the refrigerator, a pipe from said cooling coil of the refrigerator to said pump,

a return flow pipe from said pump to said tank, means to control the operation of said motor according to the temperature within the refriger ator, and an overflow said tank and including a trap-seal.

4. A brine cooling and circulating unit for refrigerating cabinets having cooling coils; said unit comprising a case, said case having two chambers one of which is provided with a heat insulated tank to receive ice and salt-brine, a brine circulating pump and a motor for driving the same located in the other of said chambers, a pipe for conducting cold brine from said tank to the cooling coil of the refrigerator, a pipe from said cooling coil of the refrigerator to said pump, a return iiow pipe from said pump to said tank, and means to control the operation of said motor according to the temperature Within the refrigerator, said return flow a place remote from said cold pipe. Y

5. A brine cooling and circulating unit for refrigerating cabinets having cooling coils; said unit comprising a case, said case having two chambers one of which is provided with a heat insulated tank to receive ice and salt-brine, a brine circulating pump and a motor for driving the same located in the other of said chambers, a pipe for conducting cold brine from said tank to the cooling coil of the refrigerator, a pipe from said cooling coil of the refrigerator to said pump, a return flow pipe from said'pump to said tank, means to control the operation of said motor according to the temperature within the refrigerator, and a shield for said cold brine conducting pipe within said tank, said shield having means to pass cool brine only to the inlet end of said cold brine conducting pipe, and said return flow pipe delivering at a place remote from said cold brine conducting pipe.

6. A brine cooling and circulating unit for refrigerating cabinets having cooling coils; said unit comprising a case, said case having two chambers one of which is provided with a heat insulated tank to receive ice and salt-brine, a brine circulating pump and a motor for driving the same located inthe other of said chambers, a pipe for conducting cold brine from said tank to the cooling coil of the refrigerator, a pipe from said cooling coil of the refrigerator to said pump, a return flow pipe from said pump to said tank, means to controlthe operation of said motor according to the temperature within the refrigerator, and an overow pipe for the brine within said tankand including a trap-seal, said return flow pipe delivering into said trap-seal.

7. A brine cooling and circulating unit for refrigerating cabinets having cooling coils; said unit comprising a case designed to t against the refrigerator cabinet as a closure for one end of said case, said case having two chambers one of which is provided with a heat insulated tank to receive ice and salt-brine, Ya brine circulating pump and a motor for driving the same located in the other of said chambers, a pipe for conducting cold brine from said tank to the cooling coil of the refrigerator, a pipe from said cooling coil of the refrigerator to Vsaid pump, a return flow pipe from said pump to said tank, and means to control the operation of said motor according to the temperature within the refrigerator.

' GEORGE E. FRIEDRICH pipe delivering at brine conducting pipe fol` the brine within i 

